Twin automatic gate.



D. W. McCALLUM.

TWIN AUTOMATIC GATE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.30.1BI3.

Patented Sept 5', 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Jan ZZZW/ZCQZZI/M D. W. McCALLUIVI.

TWIN AUTOMATIC GATE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, m3.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Summtom DANIEL W. IVIGCALLUIVI, OF LONDON, ONTARIO, CANADA.

TWIN AUTOMATIC GATE.

Specification of'Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

I Application filed September 30, 1913. Serial No. 792,685.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL W. MoCAL- LUM, of the city of London, county of MiddleseX, Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Twin Automatic Gates Especially Constructed for Railroad-Crossings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

The invention relates to an automatically operated gate of the twin type for farm use, for railroad crossings and for other similar uses.

It is an object of the invention to mount the gate so that the latter can swing from a position barring the track to a position barring the road and be actuated by a train moving in either direction.

Another object is to arrange the twin gates in such a manner that they will sweep over the entire area of the crossing when swinging from one position to the other position.

With these objects in view and further objects hereinafter disclosed, the invention comprises the following novel construction.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view ofthe mechanism for operating gates as applied to a railroad crossing with the upper part of the locking and releasing device omitted; Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section of the mechanism including the gate locking and releasing device; Fig. 3 is an elevation partly in section of the gates with the locking and releasing device omitted; Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view of the ratchet mechanism and post upon which the ratchet mechanism is mounted; and Fig. 5 is a plan detail view thereof.

A are pilot levers placed suitable distances from the public road crossings on opposite sides thereof and on opposite sides of the railroad track and adjacent to the rails, to be adjusted by the pilot of-an engine, and B are frames secured to the ties and upon which the pilot levers are pivotally mounted in vertical position.

G is the gate lever pivoted to the frame I situated beneath the surface of the roadbed and beneath the tracks, to which the pilot levers are connected by cables (I, so that an adjustment of either pilot lever causes a corresponding adjustment of the gate lever. Spring J secured between the gate lever G and the frame I is for the purpose of pulling the gate lever G to its normal position after having been moved through the medium of the pilot lever.

A are twin gates adapted to intermesh with each other, each of the gates being secured to a tubular post N at diagonally 0pposite corners of the crossing, seated in a concave seat P upon the gate post Q.

K is a crank shaft passing axially through the tubular post N and concave seat P and pivoted at K to the member K secured to the top of the post Q. The crank shaft K is connected by a recoiling spring M to the tubular post N by means of a ratchet O to regulate the proper tension on the spring. The object of the recoiling spring is to overcome the great shock produced by the pilot lever being adjusted by the moving trains. A suitable lost motion connection between the tubular post N and the crank shaft K, as horizontal slots N in the bottom end of the tubular post and pins 1 2 in a corresponding position upon the crank shaft, permits the above shock absorbing action of the spring M but positively moves the tubular post N upon movement of the crank shaft K in the opposite direction. Each gate when being actuated in the one direction by the spring M moves in said direction until the rear end of the slot N therein contacts with the pin N The crank shafts K are connected to the gate lever G by connecting rods L so that movement of the latter causes move-- ment of the twin gates.

As thus far described, the gates are opened by means of the pilot of the train moving the pilot lever A and the intermediate connections C, G, L, K and N with the shock reduced through spring M. The gate lever is then returned to normal position by means of the spring J.

A locking and releasing device is provided for regulating the opening and closing of the gate, said device being constructed as follows: E is a pivoted horizontallyextending lever of curved form having a. vertically-extending portion D extending 1 and 2 depend vertically from the lever E.

A spring F is positioned beneath the end of the lever E opposite that to which the pin 1 is secured, whereby said spring will exert a force tending to force said pin 1 downward. A spring F surrounding apart of pin I exerts a pull upon E tending to force pin I downward. Directly beneath the lever ,E is the segment H, which is secured to the gate lever G. 'Segment H has two slots, 3 and 4 therein,which are adapted to engage pins 1 and 2 respectively depending from the lever E, the segment H and lever E beingspaced from each other sufficiently so that only one pin is in engagement with its respective slot at a time.

In the normal position of the segment H and the lever E, as shown in Fig. 1, the locking pin 1 and releasing pin 2 are out of engagement with their respective slots 3 and 4 and the vertically-extending portion D extends above the position of the track. Upon the approach of a train the pilot lever A is moved to the position shown in dotted lines, thereby moving the gate lever G and segment H correspondingly, the gates being swung from a position barring the track to a position barring the road. In this position the locking pin 1 is in alinement with the slot 3 and engages the same, due to the springs F and F, and thus prevents the return of the gate leverG and the gates A. Also in this position releasing pin 2 is in alinement with its respective slot 4. As the train passes over the position where the vertically extending portion D is, the latter is forced downward, thereby forcing the pin 2 into the slot 4 and pulling the locking pin 1 from the slot 3, the engagement of the pin 2 and the slot 4 preventing the return of the gate lever and gatesto normal position. The slot '4 is suffioiently long to permit of relative movement of the segment H and lever E to allow the slot 3 to move out of alinement with the locking pin 1, thereby preventing reengagement thereof. After the train has completely passed, the verti- Cally-extending portion D is permitted to 'rise and the releasing pin 2 to be disengaged from its slot 4, thereby permitting the return of the gate lever G to normal position by means of spring J.

Another feature is the construction of th gates whereby they may be easily opened, even if an obstruction for the lower part in V normal position is met. Thus the lower parts of the gates are pivotally connected to the upper portion thereof, as at T so that the lower parts are free to swing over an 0bstacle in their paths. The upper parts of the gates are provided with hinges R so that they may be manually swung to permit the passage of hand-cars or motor-cars going over the tracks, hasps S being used for maintaining the gates in extended position for normal use. I

ith the construction as above described it will be understood that the two gates pivotally supported at diagonally opposite corners of the railway crossing are adapted to swing from a position barring the track on opposite sides of the road to a position barring the road upon opposite sides of the track. The swinging movement of the gates is automatically effected by an approaching train, which operates the lever mechanism described. Also as the gates overlap and intermesh with each other the entire area of the track will be swept thereby so as to clear the same from obstructions. Upon the complete passing of the train the springs will return the gates to their normal position, where the track is barred and the roadway cleared.

l/Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is,

1. The combination with a railway crossing, of a pair of gates pivotally mounted at diagonally opposite corners of said crossing and of a length to intermesh with each other when arranged in the same plane and to cover substantially the entire area of the crossing when swinging, said gates being constructed to permit their intermeshing portions to swing past each other without interference, and means automatically operated by an approaching train for swinging said gates.

2. The combination with a railway crossing, of a gate pivotally mounted at the corner of said crossing adapted to swing from a position barring the track to a position barring the road, a lever for operating said gate,'means actuated by an approaching train for operating said lever, a yieldable resilient connection between said lever and gate permitting the lagging of the latter due to inertia, and positive means for returning said gate with said lever.

8. The combination with a railway crossing, of a gate pivoted to swing from a position barring the track to a position barring the road, a lever for actuating said gate, a yieldable resilient connection between said lever and said gate operable in one direction of movement of said lever, positive means for operating said gate upon the opposite movement of said lever.

4. The combination with a railway crossing, of a pair of gates pivotally mounted at diagonally opposite corners thereof, the outer ends of said gates being provided with intermeshing. prongs permitting them to swing past each other Without interference, said gates with their prongs sweeping substantially the entire area of the crossing, and means operated by an approaching train for actuating said gates.

5. In a railway crossing a pair of gates pivotally mounted at diagonally opposite corners and adapted to be swung from positions barring the track to positions barring the road, means operated by an approaching train for actuating said gates, said gates being provided with hinged lower sections adapted to be raised to provide passage thereunder and with hinged outer sections normally held in place but adapted to be manually horizontally swung.

6. The combination with a gate adapted to swing through an arc of 90, of a gate lever connected thereto, an apertured bar attached to said gate lever, means for swinging said gate lever from its normal position to close the gate, means for returning said gate lever to its normal position, a bar parallel with and adjacent to said apertured bar, and a projection on said parallel and adjacent bar for entering the aperture of said apertured bar when said gate lever is swung.

7. The combination with a gate adapted to swing through an arc of 90, of a gate lever connected thereto, an apertured bar'attached to said gate lever, means for swinging said gate lever from its normal position, yieldable means for returning said gate lever to its normal position, a bar parallel with and adjacent to said apertured bar, projections on said parallel and adjacent bar adapted to alternately enter different apertures of said apertured bar when swung from its normal position and means for actuating said parallel bar to effect said alternate operations.

8. The combination with a railway crossing, of a pair of gates pivotally mounted at diagonally opposite corners thereof and adapted to swing from a normal position barring the track to a position barring the road, a swinging gate lever connected to said gates, a slotted segment attached to said gate lever, means actuated by an approaching train for swinging said gate 1ever, a pivoted bar adapted to be separately actuated by the approaching train and located directly above said slotted segment, a projection on said pivoted bar adapted to enter one of the slots when said gate lever is swung, a second projection on said pivoted bar adapted to enter another of the slots when said pivoted bar is actuated by the train, and means for preventing said ing said gate from a position barring the track to a position barring the road, means for locking said gate in the latter position until the approaching train is near said gate, and means near the gate actuated by the train for releasing said locking means and holding said gate in substantially the same position until the train has completely passed.

10. The combination with a member adapted to swing through an arc of approximately 90, of means operated by an approaching vehicle for swinging said member through said are, means for locking said member in the latter position until the approaching vehicle is near said memher, and means near said member actuated by the vehicle for releasing said locking means and for holding said swinging member in substantially the same position until the vehicle has completely passed.

11. The combination with a railway crossing, of a pivotally mounted gate adapted to swing from a normal position barring the track to a position barring the road, a gate lever connected to said gate, provided with a slotted segment, means actuated by an approaching train for swinging said gate lever, a pivoted bar located directly above said segment when the latter is swung from normal position, said pivoted bar having locking and releasing pins in alinement with slots in the segment upon said gate lever when swung, means for yieldably forcing said locking pin into its respective slot, and means actuated by the approaching train for moving said pivoted bar to disengage said locking pin from its slot and to simultaneously engage said releasing pin with its respective slot, said slot engaged by the releasingpin being su'lliciently long to permit of relative movement of said segment and said pivoted bar to prevent reengagement of said locking pin with its respective slot.

12. The combination with a railway crossing, of a gate pivotally mounted at the corner of said crossing adapted to swing from a position barring the track to a position barring the road, a lever for operating said gate, means actuated by an approaching train for operating said lever, a yieldable connection between said lever and gate permitting the lagging of the latter due to inertia and means for varying the degree of yieldableness.

13. The combination with a railway crossing, o1 a gate pivoted to swing from a position barring the track to a position barring the r0ad,-a lever for actuating saidgate, a train'at the crossing for holding-said gatecoil spring between said lever and said gate, actuating lever in-position to' retain the gate means "for varying the tension of said across theroadway.

spring, a lever actuated by an'approaching DANIEL W. MCCALLUM.

' train in advance of said gate, a connection Witnesses:

between said advance lever and said gate- ALLEYNE 'MCOAiLUM,

operating lever, and means operated'by the' STELLA CAKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner otPatents,

*Washington, D. '0. 

